Even with Quentin Tarantino acting as mentor — and the dude knows his music! — the American Idol Movie Song Night struck more sour notes than Britney singing live. Don't get me wrong, dawgs, I'm picking Adam Lambert for the Big Win on confetti night. But Adam was coasting on past triumphs with Mad World and Tracks of My Tears when he tore into Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild like a show queen trying to pass as rough trade. It was fun, but unpersuasive. And, dammit to hell, it's not a song written for a movie. It's a song that got used in movie — Easy Rider to be specific. There's a difference.

What happened to integrity of the concept? Only Kris Allen, singing Falling Slowly from the romantic musical Once, stayed true to the form and delivered — for me (if not for judge Randy Jackson) -- the performance of the night. Judge Kara DioGuardi called the song "obscure," though it charted at No. 2 and won the Oscar as Best Original Song of 2007. Bette Midler's The Rose is a solid tune, but Lil Rounds sang it in the key of karaoke. The other contestants just showed bad song and/or bad movie taste.

My second fave performer on Idol Season 8, sixteen-year-old Allison Iraheta, chose Aerosmith's ''I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'' from the hateful Armageddon, and gave her worst performance ever. The struggling Matt Giraud sunk in a pop swamp of Bryan Adams on ''Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?'' from the obscure (for real) Don Juan DeMarco. And then Bryan Adams, AGAIN!, for Anoop Desai on ''(Everything I Do) I Do It for You'' from the unwatchable Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Where was QT when the Idol contestants decided that the night's theme was all things sappy? Tarantino should have gone medieval on Danny Gokey's ass when he chose Endless Love from the endlessly boring movie of the same name. The group number on tonight's results show should be "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle and Flow, so desperate are the contestants to win audience love. It's not like the movies don't produce great music. Everyone from Bob Dylan (Things Have Changed") to Eminem ("Lose Yourself") has won Oscars for composing songs for the cinema. Songs that that don't make you embarrassed or stuff your ears with popcorn. Except from Kris Allen, I didn't hear any last night. Am I wrong? Now it's your turn to play Simon Cowell.